The Isaac Newton Institute: Creating eureka moments

Logo of the Isaac Newton Institute

One of the most exciting places in the mathematical world is the Isaac Newton Institute for Mathematical Sciences (INI), an international research centre and our neighbour here on the University of Cambridge's maths campus.

The INI attracts leading mathematical scientists from all over the world, and is open to all. We are proud to be collaborating with the INI to bring the cutting edge mathematics that is being done there to the general public. The following content is part of this collaboration.

News story
equation

Ramanujan surprises again

A fascinating discovery sheds new light on the work of the Indian mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan.
Article

Information is surprise

If I tell you something you already know, then that's not very informative. So perhaps information should be measured in terms of unexpectedness, or surprise?

Article

Satanic science

There's no doubt that information is power, but could it be converted into physical energy you could heat a room with or run a machine on? In the 19th century James Clerk Maxwell invented a hypothetical being — a "demon" — that seemed to be able to do just that. The problem was that the little devil blatantly contravened the laws of physics. What is Maxwell's demon and how was it resolved?
Displaying 349 - 360 of 386